When you enter the building for the first time as a seventh grader, everything is new to you. You go from being the oldest in a building you know well to being the youngest surrounded by new teachers and classes. It brings up a lot of challenges for students to navigate. 

“In high school, I’m scared of high school teachers and harder classes,” seventh grader Cami Champion said. 

Ninth grade sets up the rest of high school. Students need to be aware of their credit requirements and have an idea of when they need to take each of their classes. 

“I don’t feel prepared at all,” freshman Trey Place said. “I feel like I try but I don’t have enough support or information.” 

Junior year is viewed by many as the hardest year of high school. You take your SATs and if you plan on going to college, you start thinking about the college applications you fill out at the beginning of senior year. 

“I think they could really do more with actually caring about us and helping us prepare for the future,” junior Taiyler Stanfield said. 

Senior year is the year that you are expected to have things really figured out. Most students need guidance through the college application and admissions process. 

“The school has not helped that much,” senior Alora Mullins said. “I’m very confused and seeking out help currently.”

There is minimal help with going through the life transitions that are already extremely challenging for students. The school should be doing more to help students navigate all of the challenges and transitions of high school. 

The regular stress levels caused by this are increased when paired with a sudden schedule change and the pandemic that took over everyones lives. 

Teachers and students alike have to learn to manage this new workload. It is a lot of work for students to have to deal with things like SAT prep and college applications on top of this. 

The administration should be more considerate about this and provide more assistance to the teachers and students that they are in charge of.

People shouldn’t be extremely stressed or have to put so much of their personal time into school. Students should be given time and help during school hours.